UnCorinthian Leadership: Thematic Reflections on 1 Corinthians
Amid the torrent of books on leadership that flood the marketplace of contemporary Christianity, UnCorinthian Leadership takes a fresh, challenging, and biblical approach. David Starling examines the teaching and leadership practices of Paul in 1 Corinthians, and finds both a sharp critique of the "Corinthianized" practices that are endemic in much modern Western Christianity and a positive, compelling theological vision for how leadership ought to function among the people of Christ. The account of Christian leadership that emerges is grounded in careful, contextual study of 1 Corinthians, and thoughtfully applied to the circumstances and cultural pressures of our own times. Paying close attention to the situation Paul addresses and the shape of his arguments, Starling highlights the vivid relevance and enduring power of the letter. Students of 1 Corinthians will find an illuminating guide to the contemporary application of the letter; Christian leaders and students of leadership will find a refreshingly biblical account of what makes Christian leadership Christian.
Top Highlights
“In any city, in any century, a decision to preach the gospel in a manner calculated to draw attention to the cleverness and rhetorical skill of the preacher amounts to a denial of the very message that is being preached; the same can be said of a church culture that idolizes skilful communicators as celebrities and puts its trust in their rhetorical power to draw a crowd and impress the hearers.” (source)
“As a form of wisdom, it deals with (among other things) the politics of how power is gained and used among God’s people and in the world, and it exercises a deliberate, purposeful rhetoric directed toward the persuasion of others. But its politics and its rhetoric is not an uncritical mimicry of the politics and rhetoric of the world; instead, it is a politics and a rhetoric shaped by the message of the cross, seeking with humility and integrity to unite God’s people in the mind of Christ and apply that mind to the decisions and dilemmas of life. Leadership among God’s people that operates with a different aim or a different strategy may be a wisdom of one sort or another, but it is not a Christian wisdom, and the kind of community that it fosters will not be a Christian community.” (source)
“The language Paul uses to describe the form that his rhetoric did not take makes it clear that he does not have in mind a wholesale rejection of all efforts to achieve clarity in communication or to use words as instruments of persuasion. What he is rejecting is ‘eloquent wisdom’; ‘lofty words or wisdom’; ‘plausible words of wisdom’—in other words, self-consciously elaborate rhetoric that seeks to win admiration for its own artistry, fancy rhetoric that flaunts the speaker’s superior social status, and superficially plausible rhetoric that takes shortcuts to persuasion via the intellectual fashions of the day rather than seeking to lay bare the truth of the matter.” (source)
"Many speak and write of 'Christian leaders' and 'servant
leadership' as if the categories were self-evident--and certainly
it is easy to bless almost any label with a few proof-texts. This
little book by David Starling is a fresh antidote. By paying close
attention to 1 Corinthians, he demonstrates how . . . the Apostle
Paul works out a decidedly 'unCorinthian' vision that is in line
with the gospel and that has the power to revolutionize our
thinking and relationships."
--Don Carson, author of The Cross and Christian
Ministry
"Worldly attitudes and behavior on the part of the Corinthian
congregation prompted a body of godly instruction from the Apostle
Paul. David Starling mines that apostolic instruction for
leadership insights, badly needed in our own Corinthian times.
Thoughtful and well written, UnCorinthian Leadership will be
a bracing read for Christian leaders everywhere."
--Duane Litfin, author of St. Paul's Theology of
Proclamation
"No book in the New Testament has more to say about Christian
leadership than 1 Corinthians. . . . While commentaries on 1
Corinthians abound, none address this question adequately for
Christian leaders in our day. And the need is great, with worldly
leadership doing considerable harm, both to the church and the
progress of the gospel. David Starling's exploration of
gospel-shaped leadership is a searching blend of rigorous exegesis
and insightful application. I recommend it heartily."
--Brian Rosner, co-author of The First Letter to the
Corinthians (PNTC)
"Here is a very fine exposition of select chapters of 1 Corinthians
against its first-century cultural setting, along with many
sensitive and searching applications to our own Christian contexts.
. . . This little book contains an amazing array of searching,
refreshing, and powerful instruction. It is presented in a
courteous, sensitive, and self-critical manner as the author
applies the word of God to himself and urges other Christians to
follow his lead. Highly recommended."
--Peter O'Brien, author of Gospel and Mission in the Writings of
Paul
"Many speak and write of 'Christian leaders' and 'servant
leadership' as if the categories were self-evident--and certainly
it is easy to bless almost any label with a few proof-texts. This
little book by David Starling is a fresh antidote. By paying close
attention to 1 Corinthians, he demonstrates how . . . the Apostle
Paul works out a decidedly 'unCorinthian' vision that is in line
with the gospel and that has the power to revolutionize our
thinking and relationships."
--Don Carson, author of The Cross and Christian
Ministry
"Worldly attitudes and behavior on the part of the Corinthian
congregation prompted a body of godly instruction from the Apostle
Paul. David Starling mines that apostolic instruction for
leadership insights, badly needed in our own Corinthian times.
Thoughtful and well written, UnCorinthian Leadership will be
a bracing read for Christian leaders everywhere."
--Duane Litfin, author of St. Paul's Theology of
Proclamation
"No book in the New Testament has more to say about Christian
leadership than 1 Corinthians. . . . While commentaries on 1
Corinthians abound, none address this question adequately for
Christian leaders in our day. And the need is great, with worldly
leadership doing considerable harm, both to the church and the
progress of the gospel. David Starling's exploration of
gospel-shaped leadership is a searching blend of rigorous exegesis
and insightful application. I recommend it heartily."
--Brian Rosner, co-author of The First Letter to the
Corinthians (PNTC)
"Here is a very fine exposition of select chapters of 1 Corinthians
against its first-century cultural setting, along with many
sensitive and searching applications to our own Christian contexts.
. . . This little book contains an amazing array of searching,
refreshing, and powerful instruction. It is presented in a
courteous, sensitive, and self-critical manner as the author
applies the word of God to himself and urges other Christians to
follow his lead. Highly recommended."
--Peter O'Brien, author of Gospel and Mission in the Writings of
Paul
Product Details
- Title : UnCorinthian Leadership: Thematic Reflections on 1 Corinthians
- Authors:
- Starling, David Ian
- Trueman, Carl R.
- Publisher: Cascade Books
- Publication Date: 2014
- ISBN: 9781630872755
David I. Starling is Senior Lecturer in New Testament and Theology at Morling College in Sydney, Australia. He is the author of Not My People: Gentiles as Exiles in Pauline Hermeneutics (2011) and the coeditor of Theology and the Future: Evangelical Assertions and Explorations (2014).